Slang dictionary
excluded from this narrative
or narrative [nar-uh-tiv]
What does excluded from this narrative mean?
Narrative can be an internet slang term meaning “the news” or “gossip.”
It’s most commonly used in the phrase excluded from this narrative, or being exempt from some drama. Excluded from this narrative has become an ironic internet response to awkward or annoying situations.
Where does excluded from this narrative come from?
The phrase excluded from this narrative emerged on July 18, 2016 on pop star Taylor Swift’s Instagram. And it has quite the juicy backstory.
The context was a feud between her and Kanye West, who released a single that year called “Famous,” which included the line: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.”
Swift released a statement through her publicist, saying she disagreed with the misogynistic content of the song and that she never approved the lyric. Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian, then posted video evidence of Kanye running the lyric past Swift and Taylor giving her approval via Snapchat.
On July 18, 2016, Taylor took to social media in a since-deleted post, this time saying she never agreed to the phrase that bitch. She also said: I would like to be excluded from this narrative [ongoing story], one that I have never been asked to be a part of, since 2009, in reference to when West said Beyoncé, not Swift, should have won Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards. (Yeah, this feud is old and vicious.)
The term narrative and phrase excluded from this narrative spread online as a meme, especially on Twitter. Taylor herself cleverly referenced it in the video to her 2017 single “Look What You Made Me Do.”
Examples of excluded from this narrative
Who uses excluded from this narrative?
Although Taylor Swift originally used narrative and excluded from this narrative seriously, the internet quickly made it ironic. People use excluded from this narrative as a joking response to an everyday demand, awkward situation, or bit of social “drama,” often when they are fully responsible for it.
Going to reply to all my work emails today with 'I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative'.
— Dominic Wakeford (@domwakeford) July 18, 2016
Cosmopolitan
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of excluded from this narrative like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of excluded from this narrative that will help our users expand their word mastery.